Rosemary's Baby (film)

{{Short description|1968 film by Roman Polanski}}

{{Use American English|date=May 2025}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}

{{Infobox film

| image = Rosemarys baby poster.jpg

| alt = The side profile of a woman looking up is coated in green and in the background, while the silhouette of a baby stroller sits on the foreground.

| caption = Theatrical release poster by Philip Gips

| director = Roman Polanski

| screenplay = Roman Polanski

| based_on = {{based on|Rosemary's Baby|Ira Levin}}

| producer = William Castle

| starring = {{Plainlist|

}}

| cinematography = William A. Fraker

| editing = {{Plainlist|

}}

| music = Krzysztof Komeda

| studio = William Castle Enterprises{{cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23669-ROSEMARYS-BABY?sid=eef7be26-f267-450e-9c0c-53e84863967f&sr=11.93155&cp=1&pos=0|work=AFI Catalog of Feature Films|publisher=American Film Institute|title=Rosemary's Baby|access-date=December 23, 2020|archive-date=August 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807050202/https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23669-ROSEMARYS-BABY?sid=eef7be26-f267-450e-9c0c-53e84863967f&sr=11.93155&cp=1&pos=0|url-status=live}}

| distributor = Paramount Pictures

| released = {{Film date|1968|6|12}}

| runtime = 137 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget = $3.2 million

| gross = $33.4 million{{Cite web|url=https://the-numbers.com/movies/1968/0RBBY.php|website=The Numbers|title=Rosemary's Baby, Box Office Information|access-date=December 23, 2020|archive-date=September 10, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130910032343/http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1968/0RBBY.php|url-status=live}}

}}

Rosemary's Baby is a 1968 American psychological horror film written and directed by Roman Polanski, based on Ira Levin's 1967 novel. The film stars Mia Farrow as the titular Rosemary, a newlywed living in Manhattan who becomes pregnant, but soon begins to suspect that her neighbors have sinister intentions regarding her and her baby. The film's supporting cast includes John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer, Maurice Evans, Ralph Bellamy, Patsy Kelly, Angela Dorian, and Charles Grodin in his feature film debut.

The film deals with themes related to paranoia, women's liberation, Catholicism, and the occult.{{cite journal |last=Ward |first=Sarah |title=All of them witches: Individuality, conformity and the occult on screen |journal=Screen Education |issue=83 |year=2016 |pages=34–41 |url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA467335921&it=r&asid=23711336d4c3b97545d608fe155564c9 |archive-date=June 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210605021459/https://galeapps.gale.com/apps/auth?userGroupName=&origURL=https%3A%2F%2Fgo.gale.com%2Fps%2Fi.do%3Fp%3DAONE%26sw%3Dw%26v%3D2.1%26id%3DGALE%257CA467335921%26it%3Dr%26asid%3D23711336d4c3b97545d608fe155564c9&prodId=AONE |url-status=live }} While it is primarily set in New York City, the majority of principal photography for Rosemary's Baby took place in Los Angeles throughout late 1967. The film was released on June 12, 1968, by Paramount Pictures. It was a critical and box office success, grossing over $30 million in the United States, and received acclaim from critics. The film was nominated for several accolades, including multiple Golden Globe Award nominations and two Academy Award nominations, winning Best Supporting Actress (for Ruth Gordon) and the Golden Globe in the same category. Since its release, Rosemary's Baby has been widely regarded as one of the greatest horror films of all time. In 2014, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

The movie successfully launched a franchise, which includes a 1976 made-for-TV sequel, Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby, a 2014 miniseries adaptation sharing the same title, and a streaming exclusive prequel, Apartment 7A (2024).

Plot

In 1965, Rosemary Woodhouse and her husband, stage actor Guy, tour the Bramford, a large Renaissance Revival apartment building in Manhattan. They notice the previous tenant, an elderly woman who recently died, displayed odd behaviors. For example, she moved heavy furniture in front of a linen closet she had still been using. Despite warnings from their current landlord and friend, Hutch, about the Bramford's dark past, Rosemary and Guy move in.

In the basement laundry room, Rosemary meets a young woman, Terry Gionoffrio, a recovering drug addict whom Minnie and Roman Castevet, the Woodhouses' elderly neighbors, have taken in. The Woodhouses first meet the Castevets when they return home to find Terry dead of an apparent suicide, having jumped from the Castevets' seventh-floor apartment. The Woodhouses have dinner at the Castevets' apartment the following evening, but Rosemary finds them meddlesome. She is bothered when Minnie offers her Terry's pendant as a good luck charm, claiming it contains "tannis root". Unexpectedly, Guy, initially reluctant to socialize with the Castevets, becomes seemingly fascinated with Roman, visiting him repeatedly.

Guy is cast in a prominent play after the lead actor inexplicably goes blind. With his career flourishing, Guy wants him and Rosemary to procreate. On the night that they plan to conceive, Minnie brings over individual cups of chocolate mousse for their dessert. When Rosemary complains that it has a chalky "undertaste", Guy angrily brands her as ungrateful. Rosemary consumes a bit more to mollify Guy, then discreetly discards the rest. Soon after, she grows dizzy and passes out. In a dream state, Rosemary hallucinates being raped by a demonic presence. The next morning, Guy explains the scratches covering her body by claiming that he did not want to miss "baby night," and that she simply did not remember them having sex, having passed out from exhaustion. He stated he had since cut his nails.

Rosemary becomes pregnant, with the baby due on June 28. The elated Castevets insist that Rosemary go to their close friend, Dr. Abraham Sapirstein, a prominent obstetrician, rather than her own physician, Dr. Hill. During her first trimester, Rosemary suffers severe abdominal pains and loses a considerable amount of weight. By Christmas, her gaunt appearance alarms her friends as well as Hutch, who has been researching the Bramford's history. Before Hutch can share his findings with Rosemary, he falls into a mysterious coma. Rosemary, unable to withstand the pain, insists on seeing Hill, while Guy argues against it, perceiving Sapirstein will be offended. As they argue, the pains suddenly stop and Rosemary feels the baby move for the first time.

Three months later, Hutch's friend, Grace Cardiff, informs Rosemary about his death. Prior to passing away, he briefly regained consciousness and instructed to give Rosemary a book on witchcraft, All of Them Witches, along with the cryptic message: "The name is an anagram." Using Scrabble tiles, Rosemary works out that Roman Castevet is an anagram for Steven Marcato, the son of a former Bramford resident and a reputed Satanist. She suspects that the Castevets and Sapirstein belong to a coven and want her baby. Guy discounts this and later throws the book away, making Rosemary suspicious. Terrified, she goes to Hill for help, but Hill deduces she is hysterical and calls Sapirstein. He arrives with Guy to drive her home and the pair threaten to commit her to a psychiatric hospital if she does not comply.

Rosemary locks herself into the apartment. Somehow, coven members infiltrate it, and Sapirstein sedates Rosemary, who goes into labor and gives birth. When Rosemary awakens, she is informed the baby was stillborn. As she recovers, though, she notices her pumped breast milk is being saved rather than discarded. She stops taking her prescribed pills, becoming less groggy. When Rosemary hears an infant crying, Guy claims tenants with a newborn have moved in upstairs.

Believing her baby is alive, Rosemary discovers a hidden door in the linen closet leading directly into the Castevets' apartment, the same closet the previous tenant had blocked and the same hidden door the coven members had used to access the Woodhouses' apartment. Guy, the Castevets, Sapirstein and other coven members are gathered around a bassinet draped in black with an upside down cross hanging over it. Peering inside, Rosemary is horrified and demands to know what is wrong with her baby's eyes. Roman proclaims that the child, Adrian, is the son of Satan and the supposed Antichrist, who inherited his father's eyes. Roman urges Rosemary to mother her child, promising she does not have to join the coven, and that Adrian will spare her life in the future. When Guy attempts to calm her, assuring they will be rewarded and can conceive their own children, she spits in his face. Upon hearing the infant's cries, however, Rosemary agrees. The film closes with Rosemary gently rocking Adrian's cradle.

Cast

{{Cast listing|

}}

Production

=Development=

In Rosemary's Baby: A Retrospective, a featurette on the DVD release of the film, screenwriter/director Roman Polanski, Paramount Pictures executive Robert Evans, and production designer Richard Sylbert reminisce at length about the production. Evans recalled William Castle brought him the galley proofs of the book and asked him to purchase the film rights even before Random House published the book in April 1967. The studio head recognized the commercial potential of the project and agreed with the stipulation that Castle, who had a reputation for low-budget horror films, could produce but not direct the film adaptation. He makes a cameo appearance as the man at the phone booth waiting for Mia Farrow's character to finish her call.

François Truffaut claimed that Alfred Hitchcock was first offered the chance to direct the film but declined. Evans admired Polanski's European films and hoped he could convince him to make his American debut with Rosemary's Baby.{{sfn|Sandford|2009|pages=109–110}} He knew the director was a ski buff who was anxious to make a film with the sport as its basis, so he sent him the script for Downhill Racer along with the galleys for Rosemary's Baby.{{sfn|Sandford|2009|p=109}} Polanski read the latter book non-stop through the night and called Evans the following morning to tell him he thought Rosemary's Baby was the more interesting project, and would like the opportunity to write as well as direct it.{{sfn|Sandford|2009|p=110}} After negotiations, Paramount agreed to hire Polanski for the project, with a tentative budget of $1.9 million, $150,000 of which would go to Polanski.{{sfn|Sandford|2009|p=110}}

Polanski completed the 272-page screenplay for the film in approximately three weeks.{{sfn|Sandford|2009|p=110}} Polanski closely modeled it on the original 1967 novel by Ira Levin and incorporated large sections of the novel's dialogue and details, with much of it being lifted directly from the source text.{{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/in-adapting-rosemary-s-baby-polanski-traded-ambiguity-1798253865|work=The A.V. Club|last=Vlastelica|first=Ryan|title=In adapting Rosemary's Baby, Polanski traded ambiguity for dreadfully inevitable horror|date=November 3, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200501003523/https://aux.avclub.com/in-adapting-rosemary-s-baby-polanski-traded-ambiguity-1798253865|archive-date=May 1, 2020|access-date=December 24, 2020}}

=Casting=

File:Mia Farrow - Rosemary's Baby.jpg's performance as Rosemary Woodhouse received widespread critical acclaim.]]

Casting for Rosemary's Baby began in the summer of 1967 in Los Angeles.{{sfn|Sandford|2009|p=111}} Polanski originally envisioned Rosemary as a robust, full-figured, girl-next-door type, and wanted Tuesday Weld or his own fiancée Sharon Tate to play the role. Jane Fonda, Patty Duke and Goldie Hawn were also reportedly considered for the role.{{sfn|Sandford|2009|p=111}}{{Cite web|url = https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/the-roles-that-got-away|title = The roles that got away|website = Fox News|date = May 26, 2015|access-date = October 18, 2021|archive-date = October 18, 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211018000703/https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/the-roles-that-got-away|url-status = live}}{{cite web | url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/06/the-most-cursed-hit-movie-ever-made-rosemarys-baby | title=The Most Cursed Hit Movie Ever Made | website=Vanity Fair | date=June 2017 }}

Since the book had not yet reached bestseller status, Evans was unsure the title alone would guarantee an audience for the film, and he believed that a bigger name was needed for the lead. Farrow, with a supporting role in Guns at Batasi (1964) and the yet-unreleased A Dandy in Aspic (1968) as her only feature film credits, had an unproven box office track record; however, she had gained wider notice with her role as Allison MacKenzie in the popular television series Peyton Place, and her unexpected marriage to noted singer Frank Sinatra.{{sfn|Sandford|2009|pages=111–115}} Despite her waif-like appearance, Polanski agreed to cast her.{{sfn|Sandford|2009|pages=111–115}} Her acceptance incensed Sinatra, who had demanded she forgo her career when they wed.{{sfn|Sandford|2009|p=114}}

Robert Redford was the first choice for the role of Guy Woodhouse, but he turned it down.{{sfn|Sandford|2009|p=112}} Jack Nicholson was considered briefly before Polanski suggested John Cassavetes, whom he had met in London.{{sfn|Sandford|2009|p=112}} In casting the film's secondary actors, Polanski drew sketches of what he imagined the characters would look like, which were then used by Paramount casting directors to match with potential actors.{{sfn|Sandford|2009|p=113}} In the roles of Roman and Minnie Castevet, Polanski cast veteran stage/film actors Sidney Blackmer and Ruth Gordon. Veteran actor Ralph Bellamy was cast as Dr. Sapirstein. (Many years earlier, Bellamy and Blackmer had appeared in the pre-Code 1934 film, This Man Is Mine.)

{{sfn|Sandford|2009|p=113}}

When Rosemary calls Donald Baumgart, the actor who goes blind and is replaced by Guy, the voice heard on the phone is actor Tony Curtis. Farrow, who had not been told who would be reading Baumgart's lines, recognized his voice but could not place it. The slight confusion she displays throughout the call was exactly what Polanski hoped to capture by not revealing Curtis' identity in advance.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}

=Filming=

File:Dakota Building (98553522).jpg served as a stand-in for exterior shots of the fictional Bramford Building]]

Principal photography for Rosemary's Baby began on August 21, 1967, in New York City. The Dakota's exteriors served as the location for the fictional Bramford. Levin modeled it on buildings like the Dakota.{{Cite magazine |last=Rothman |first=Lily |date=2018-06-12 |title=The Apartment Building in Rosemary's Baby Is Also a Star. Here's the Not-So-Secret Story Behind Its Name |url=https://time.com/5306891/rosemarys-baby-50-year-anniversary/ |access-date=2023-09-24 |magazine=Time}} In the novel, Hutch even urges Rosemary and Guy to move into "the Dakota" instead of the Bramford.Levin, Ira. [https://archive.org/details/roseymarysbaby00iral/page/20/mode/1up?view=theater Rosemary's Baby]. Bantam Books, 1991. 20.

When Farrow was reluctant to film a scene that depicted a dazed and preoccupied Rosemary wandering into the middle of Fifth Avenue into oncoming traffic, Polanski pointed to her pregnancy padding and reassured her, "no one's going to hit a pregnant woman". The scene was successfully shot with Farrow walking into real traffic and Polanski following, operating the hand-held camera since he was the only one willing to do it.{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/89031|title=Rosemary's Baby|website=Turner Classic Movies|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120913184739/http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/89031%7C0/Rosemary-s-Baby.html|archive-date=September 13, 2012|last=Stafford|first=Jeff|access-date=February 28, 2009}}

By September 1967, the shoot had relocated to Paramount Studios in Hollywood, where interior sets of the Bramford apartments had been constructed on sound stages. Some additional location shooting took place in Playa del Rey in October 1967. Farrow recalled that the dream sequence in which her character is attending a dinner party on a yacht was filmed on a vessel near Santa Catalina Island.{{sfn|Remembering Rosemary's Baby|2012|loc=29:00}} Though Paramount had initially agreed to spend $1.9 million to make the film, the shoot was overextended due to Polanski's meticulous attention to detail, which resulted in his completing up to fifty takes of single shots.{{sfn|Sandford|2009|p=115}} The shoot suffered significant scheduling problems as a result, and ultimately went $400,000 over budget.{{sfn|Sandford|2009|pages=114–115}} In November 1967, it was reported that the shoot was over three weeks behind schedule.

The shoot was further disrupted when, midway through filming, Farrow's husband, Frank Sinatra, served her divorce papers via a corporate lawyer in front of the cast and crew.{{sfn|Sandford|2009|p=115}} In an effort to salvage her relationship, Farrow asked Evans to release her from her contract, but he persuaded her to remain with the project after showing her an hour-long rough cut and assuring her she would receive an Academy Award nomination for her performance.{{sfn|Sandford|2009|pages=115–116}} Filming was completed on December 20, 1967, in Los Angeles.

Music

{{Infobox album

| name = Rosemary's Baby (Music from the Original Motion Picture Score)

| type = soundtrack

| artist = Christopher Komeda

| cover =

| released = 1968

| recorded = 25 June 1968

| studio = Western Recorders, Hollywood, California

| genre = {{flatlist|

| length = 25:21

| label = Dot Records

| producer = Tom Mack

}}

The lullaby played over the intro is the song "Sleep Safe and Warm", composed by Krzysztof Komeda and sung by Farrow.{{cite web |title=Rosemary's Baby: The Devil Was Not Only in the Details |url=https://culture.pl/en/article/rosemarys-baby-the-devil-was-not-only-in-the-details |website=Culture.pl |access-date=27 October 2018 |language=en |archive-date=28 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181028033807/https://culture.pl/en/article/rosemarys-baby-the-devil-was-not-only-in-the-details |url-status=live }} A tenant practicing "Für Elise" is also frequently used as background music throughout the film, the skill improving throughout the film to demonstrate the progression of time. The original film soundtrack was released in 1968 via Dot Records. Waxwork Records released the soundtrack from the original master tapes in 2014, including Krzysztof Komeda's original work.{{cite web|url=https://www.comingsoon.net/horror/news/738420-exclusive-look-at-waxworks-records-rosemarys-baby-vinyl-art-by-jay-shaw|title=Exclusive Look at Waxworks Records' Rosemary's Baby Vinyl, Art By Jay Shaw!|website=ComingSoon.net|author=Turek, Ryan|date=December 5, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920152702/https://www.comingsoon.net/horror/news/738420-exclusive-look-at-waxworks-records-rosemarys-baby-vinyl-art-by-jay-shaw|archive-date=September 20, 2020|access-date=August 5, 2020|url-status=live}}

=Track listing=

{{Track listing

| headline = Side 1

| title1 = Lullaby from Rosemary's Baby, Part 1

| length1 = 2:20

| title2 = The Coven

| length2 = 0:45

| title3 = Moment Musical

| length3 = 2:00

| title4 = Dream

| length4 = 3:45

| title5 = Christmas

| length5 = 2:05

| title6 = Expectancy

| length6 = 2:21

| total_length = 13:16

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side 2

| title7 = Main Title (Vocal)

| length7 = 2:50

| title8 = Panic

| length8 = 2:02

| title9 = Rosemary's Party

| length9 = 2:05

| title10 = Through The Closet

| length10 = 1:44

| title11 = What Have You Done To Its Eyes

| length11 = 1:27

| title12 = Happy News

| length12 = 1:57

| total_length = 12:05

}}

Release

=Box office=

File:World Theatre Ad - 1 November 1968, Billings, MT.jpg theater advertisement (November 1968)]]

Rosemary's Baby was given a wide theatrical release by Paramount Pictures, opening in the United States on June 12, 1968. The film was a major box-office hit for the studio,{{sfn|Wanamaker|Christaldi|Stephens|2016|p=69}} grossing a total of $33,397,080 worldwide against its $3.2 million budget.

=Critical response=

==Contemporary==

In contemporary reviews, Renata Adler wrote in The New York Times that: "The movie—although it is pleasant—doesn't seem to work on any of its dark or powerful terms. I think this is because it is almost too extremely plausible. The quality of the young people's lives seems the quality of lives that one knows, even to the point of finding old people next door to avoid and lean on. One gets very annoyed that they don't catch on sooner."{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/06/13/archives/the-screen-rosemarys-baby-a-story-of-fantasy-and-horror-john.html|last=Adler|first=Renata|newspaper=The New York Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106205837/https://www.nytimes.com/1968/06/13/archives/the-screen-rosemarys-baby-a-story-of-fantasy-and-horror-john.html|archive-date=January 6, 2021|url-status=live|title=The Screen: 'Rosemary's Baby,' a Story of Fantasy and Horror; John Cassavetes Stars With Mia Farrow|date=June 13, 1968|access-date=December 24, 2020}}

Stanley Eichelbaum of the San Francisco Examiner called the film "a delightful witches brew, a bit over-long for my taste, but nearly always absorbing, suspenseful and easier to swallow than Ira Levin's book. Its suggestions of deviltry in a musty and still-respectable old apartment house on Manhattan's Upper West Side are more gracefully and appealingly related than in the novel, which I found awfully silly, when it wasn't downright noxious. The very idea of a contemporary case of witchcraft, in which an innocent young housewife is impregnated by the Devil, is to say the least unnerving, particularly when the pregnancy is marked by all degrees of mental and physical pain."{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114701883/the-san-francisco-examiner/|last=Eichelbaum|first=Stanley|newspaper=San Francisco Examiner|title='Rosemary' - A Devilish Delight|date=June 25, 1968|access-date=December 16, 2022|archive-date=December 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221216085126/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114701883/the-san-francisco-examiner/|url-status=live}}

Variety said, "Several exhilarating milestones are achieved in Rosemary's Baby, an excellent film version of Ira Levin's diabolical chiller novel. Writer-director Roman Polanski has triumphed in his first US-made pic. The film holds attention without explicit violence or gore... Farrow's performance is outstanding."{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/1967/film/reviews/rosemary-s-baby-1200421571/|title=Rosemary's Baby|work=Variety|date=January 1968|url-status=live|archive-date=February 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226135637/https://variety.com/1967/film/reviews/rosemary-s-baby-1200421571/|access-date=December 24, 2020}}

The Monthly Film Bulletin said that "After the miscalculations of Cul de Sac and Dance of the Vampires", Polanski had "returned to the rich vein of Repulsion".{{Sfn|Christie|1969|p=95}} The review noted that "Polanski shows an increasing ability to evoke menace and sheer terror in familiar routines (cooking and telephoning, particularly)", and Polanski has shown "his transformation of a cleverly calculated thriller into a serious work of art".{{sfn|Christie|1969|p=96}}

==Retrospective==

Today, the film is widely regarded as a classic; it has an approval rating of 97% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes based on 86 reviews, with an average rating of 8.8/10. The site's critics' consensus describes it as "A frightening tale of Satanism and pregnancy that is even more disturbing than it sounds thanks to convincing and committed performances by Mia Farrow and Ruth Gordon."{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rosemarys_baby/|title=Rosemary's Baby (1968)|website=Rotten Tomatoes|access-date=May 1, 2021|archive-date=December 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201207210748/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rosemarys_baby|url-status=live}} Metacritic reports a weighted average score of 96 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".{{Cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/rosemarys-baby|title=Rosemary's Baby|website=Metacritic|access-date=June 4, 2019|archive-date=November 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112035253/https://www.metacritic.com/movie/rosemarys-baby|url-status=live}}

Accolades

class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
Award

! Category

! Nominee(s)

! Result

! Ref.

rowspan="2"| Academy Awards

| Best Supporting Actress

| Ruth Gordon

| {{won}}

| align="center" rowspan="2"| {{cite web |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1969 |title=The 41st Academy Awards (1969) Nominees and Winners |publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |access-date=August 25, 2011}}

Best Screenplay – Based on Material from Another Medium

| Roman Polanski

| {{nom}}

British Academy Film Awards

| Best Actress in a Leading Role

| rowspan="2"| Mia Farrow

| {{nom}}

| align="center"| {{cite web |url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/1970/film |title=BAFTA Awards: Film in 1970 |publisher=British Academy Film Awards |access-date=September 16, 2016}}

rowspan="2"| David di Donatello Awards

| Best Foreign Actress

| {{won}}{{efn|Tied with Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl.}}

| align="center" rowspan="2"| {{Cite web |url=https://www.daviddidonatello.it/motore-di-ricerca/cercafilmvincitori2.php?idfilm=405&vinfilm=Rosemary%27s%20Baby |title=Rosemary's Baby |publisher=David di Donatello |access-date=August 20, 2023}}

Best Foreign Director

| rowspan="3"| Roman Polanski

| {{won}}

Directors Guild of America Awards

| Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures

| {{nom}}

| align="center"| {{cite web |url=https://www.dga.org/Awards/History/1960s/1968.aspx?value=1968 |title=The 21st Annual DGA Awards |publisher=Directors Guild of America Awards |access-date=August 20, 2023}}

Edgar Allan Poe Awards

| Best Motion Picture

| {{nom}}

| align="center"| {{cite web |url=https://edgarawards.com/category-list-best-motion-picture/ |title=Category List – Best Motion Picture |publisher=Edgar Awards |access-date=August 20, 2023}}

Fotogramas de Plata

| Best Foreign Movie Performer

| Mia Farrow

| {{won}}

| align="center"|

French Syndicate of Cinema Critics

| Best Foreign Film

| Roman Polanski

| {{won}}

| align="center"|

rowspan="4"| Golden Globe Awards

| Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama

| Mia Farrow

| {{nom}}

| align="center" rowspan="4"| {{cite web |url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/film/rosemarys-baby |title=Rosemary's Baby |publisher=Golden Globe Awards |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240114032517/https://goldenglobes.com/film/rosemarys-baby/|archive-date=January 14, 2024|url-status=live}}

Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture

| Ruth Gordon

| {{won}}

Best Screenplay

| Roman Polanski

| {{nom}}

Best Original Score

| Krzysztof Komeda

| {{nom}}

Hugo Awards

| Best Dramatic Presentation

| Roman Polanski {{small|(director/screenplay)}};
Ira Levin {{small|(original novel)}}

| {{nom}}

| align="center"| {{cite web |url=https://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/1969-hugo-awards/ |title=1969 Hugo Awards |date=July 26, 2007 |publisher=Hugo Awards |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120917234302/http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/1969-hugo-awards/|archive-date=September 17, 2012}}

rowspan="2"| Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards

| Best Supporting Actor

| Sidney Blackmer

| {{won}}

| align="center" rowspan="2"| {{cite web |url=https://kcfcc.org/kcfcc-award-winners-1966-69/ |title=KCFCC Award Winners – 1966-69 |date=December 11, 2013 |publisher=Kansas City Film Critics Circle |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240114032635/https://kcfcc.org/kcfcc-award-winners-1966-69/ |archive-date=January 14, 2024 |url-status=live}}

Best Supporting Actress

| Ruth Gordon

| {{won}}

rowspan="3"| Laurel Awards

| colspan="2"| Top Drama

| {{nom}}

| align="center" rowspan="3"|

Top Female Dramatic Performance

| Mia Farrow

| {{nom}}

Top Female Supporting Performance

| Ruth Gordon

| {{nom}}

National Film Preservation Board

| colspan="2"| National Film Registry

| {{won|place=4|Inducted}}

| align="center"| {{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/ |title=Complete National Film Registry Listing |publisher=Library of Congress |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240109031918/https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/|archive-date=January 9, 2024}}

Online Film & Television Association Awards

| colspan="2"| Film Hall of Fame: Productions

| {{won}}

| align="center"| {{cite web |url=https://www.oftaawards.com/film-hall-of-fame/film-hall-of-fame-productions/ |title=Film Hall of Fame: Productions |publisher=Online Film & Television Association |access-date=August 20, 2023}}

Photoplay Awards

| colspan="2"| Gold Medal

| {{won}}

| align="center"|

Writers Guild of America Awards

| Best Written American Drama

| Roman Polanski

| {{nom}}

| align="center"| {{cite web |url=http://www.wga.org/awards/awardssub.aspx?id=1551 |title=Awards Winners |publisher=Writers Guild of America Awards |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20121205095022/http://www.wga.org/awards/awardssub.aspx?id=1551 |archive-date=2012-12-05 |access-date=2010-06-06}}

= Home media =

The Rosemary's Baby DVD, released on October 3, 2000 by Paramount Home Entertainment, contains a 23-minute documentary film, Mia and Roman, directed by Shahrokh Hatami, which was shot during the making of the film. The title refers to Mia Farrow and Roman Polanski. The film features footage of Roman Polanski directing the film's cast on set. Hatami was an Iranian photographer who befriended Polanski and his wife Sharon Tate.{{Cite web |url=http://www.sfae.com/index.php?ID=101&action=gallery&status=show_artist |title=Shahrokh Hatami |access-date=2018-09-24 |archive-date=2018-09-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180924145052/http://www.sfae.com/index.php?ID=101&action=gallery&status=show_artist |url-status=live }} Mia and Roman was screened originally as a promo film at Hollywood's Lytton Center,{{cite news | title=Checking Rumors on a 'Wild Bunch' | periodical=Los Angeles Times | date=July 9, 1968 | page=E11}} and later included as a featurette on the Rosemary's Baby DVD. It is described as a "trippy on-set featurette"{{cite magazine| url=https://ew.com/article/2000/10/27/rosemarys-baby-collectors-edition/| magazine=Entertainment Weekly| title=DVD Review: Rosemary's Baby: Collector's Edition| author=Harris, Mark| url-status=live| archive-date=November 17, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201117050055/https://ew.com/article/2000/10/27/rosemarys-baby-collectors-edition/| date=October 27, 2000| access-date=December 24, 2020}} and "an odd little bit of cheese."{{cite news | newspaper=Orlando Sentinel | date=October 20, 2000 | page=42 | title=Polanski balances terror, humor the director adds deceit upon deceit in Rosemary's Baby until we finally find the truth}}

On October 30, 2012, The Criterion Collection released the film for the first time on Blu-ray.{{cite web|work=Blu-ray.com|url=https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Rosemarys-Baby-Blu-ray/37146/|title=Rosemary's Baby Blu-ray|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151219234918/https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Rosemarys-Baby-Blu-ray/37146/|archive-date=December 19, 2015|url-status=live}} It was released for the first time on 4K Ultra HD for its 55th Anniversary on October 10, 2023.{{cite web|work=Blu-ray.com|url=https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Rosemarys-Baby-4K-Blu-ray/341802/|title=Rosemary's Baby 4K Blu-ray|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240327062728/https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Rosemarys-Baby-4K-Blu-ray/341802/|archive-date=March 27, 2024|url-status=live}}

Legacy

The scene in which Rosemary is raped by Satan was ranked No. 23 on Bravo's The 100 Scariest Movie Moments.{{cite web|archive-date=October 30, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071030070540/http://www.bravotv.com/The_100_Scariest_Movie_Moments/index.shtml|title=The 100 Scariest Movie Moments|website=Bravo|url=http://www.bravotv.com/The_100_Scariest_Movie_Moments/index.shtml|url-status=dead}} In 2010, The Guardian ranked the film the second-greatest horror film of all time.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/oct/22/rosemarys-baby-polanksi-horror|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130824082031/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/oct/22/rosemarys-baby-polanksi-horror|archive-date=August 24, 2013|date=October 22, 2010|title=Rosemary's Baby: No 2 best horror film of all time|last=Billson|first=Anne|website=TheGuardian.com|access-date=December 24, 2020|url-status=live}} In 2014, it was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2014/14-210.html|title=Cinematic Treasures Named to National Film Registry|date=December 17, 2014|type=News release|last=Cannady|first=Sheryl|publisher=Library of Congress|archive-date=December 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201225022702/https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-14-210/|access-date=December 29, 2017|url-status=live}}

The film inaugurated cinema's growing fascination with demons and related themes in the coming decades,{{sfn|Simon|2022|pages=}} and the novel's author Ira Levin wondered in a 2003 afterword whether his idea for Rosemary's Baby ultimately led to an increase in religious fundamentalism.{{cite web |last1=Levin |first1=Ira |title='Stuck with Satan': Ira Levin on the Origins of Rosemary's Baby |date=November 5, 2012 |url=https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/2541--stuck-with-satan-ira-levin-on-the-origins-of-rosemary-s-baby |website=The Criterion Collection |access-date=August 27, 2023}}

Sequels and remakes

In the 1976 television film Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby, Patty Duke starred as Rosemary Woodhouse and Ruth Gordon reprised her role of Minnie Castevet. The film introduced an adult Andrew/Adrian attempting to earn his place as the Antichrist. It was disliked as a sequel by critics and viewers, and its reputation deteriorated over the years. The film is unrelated to the novel's 1997 sequel, Son of Rosemary.{{cite web |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/17986/look-whats-happened-to-rosemarys-baby |title=Look What's Happened To Rosemary's Baby (1976) |last=Mankiewicz |first=Ben |website=Turner Classic Movies |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321160742/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/17986/Look-What-s-Happened-to-Rosemary-s-Baby/ |archive-date=March 21, 2019 |access-date=March 21, 2019 |url-status=live }}

After the success of Friday the 13th Part III series producer Frank Mancuso Jr. was assigned to work on another 3D film with one of the projects considered being a 3-D remake of Rosemary's Baby before Mancuso ultimately deciding to produce The Man Who Wasn't There.{{cite magazine |last=Scapperotti|first=Dan|date=1982 |title= The Man Who Wasn't There|url=https://archive.org/details/cinefantastique_1970-2002/Cinefantastique%20Vol%2013%20No%206-Vol%2014%20No%201%20%281982%29/page/n38/mode/1up?view=theater|magazine=Cinefantastique |location= |publisher= Fourth Castle Micromedia|access-date=April 29, 2023}}

Another attempt to remake Rosemary's Baby was briefly considered in 2008. The intended producers were Michael Bay, Andrew Form, and Brad Fuller.{{cite web |url= https://cinemablend.com/new/Rosemary-s-Baby-Remake-Confirmed-8144.html |title= Rosemary's Baby Remake Confirmed |date= 12 March 2008 |website= CinemaBlend |access-date= May 21, 2010 |archive-date= June 5, 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210605020718/https://www.cinemablend.com/new/Rosemary-s-Baby-Remake-Confirmed-8144.html |url-status= dead }} The remake fell through later that same year.{{Cite web | url = https://www.vulture.com/2008/12/rosemarys_baby_remake_canned.html |title= Rosemary's Baby Remake Canned | website = Vulture | date = 23 December 2008 | access-date = 6 October 2024}}

In January 2014, NBC made a four-hour miniseries with Zoe Saldaña as Rosemary. The miniseries was filmed in Paris under the direction of Agnieszka Holland.{{cite web|url= https://deadline.com/2014/01/zoe-saldana-to-topline-nbc-miniseries-rosemarys-baby-660720/|title= Zoe Saldana To Topline NBC Miniseries 'Rosemary's Baby'|website= Deadline|last= Andreeva|first= Nellie|date= 8 January 2014|access-date= 14 November 2019|archive-date= 27 March 2014|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140327090017/http://www.deadline.com/2014/01/zoe-saldana-to-topline-nbc-miniseries-rosemarys-baby/|url-status= live}}

In 2016, the film was unofficially remade in Turkey under the title Alamet-i-Kiyamet.{{cite web |url=https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film707968.html |title=Alamet-i-Kiyamet |website=Filmaffinity |date=April 17, 2021 |access-date=April 17, 2021 |archive-date=April 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417094645/https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film707968.html |url-status=live }}.

The short Her Only Living Son from the 2017 horror anthology film XX serves as an unofficial sequel to the story.{{Cite web |url=https://www.cutthroatwomen.org/karyn-kusama |title=Director Page - Karyn Kusama |website=Cut-Throat Women |access-date=2020-05-18 |archive-date=2020-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806193509/https://www.cutthroatwomen.org/karyn-kusama |url-status=dead }}

The film was followed by a prequel in 2024, Apartment 7A. The prequel takes place a year prior to the events of Rosemary's Baby, and expands on Terry Gionoffrio - a minor character in the original film.{{cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2024/07/apartment-7a-premiere-date-set-paramount-plus-1236012280 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240718001320/https://deadline.com/2024/07/apartment-7a-premiere-date-set-paramount-plus-1236012280/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 18, 2024 |title=Paramount+ Unveils Premiere Date, First-Look Photos For Julia Garner Thriller 'Apartment 7A,' A Prequel To Horror Classic 'Rosemary's Baby'

|website=Deadline Hollywood |date=July 17, 2024 |access-date=July 17, 2024}}

See also

Notes

{{notelist}}

References

{{reflist}}

Sources

first=Ian Leslie}}

  • {{cite AV media|title=Remembering Rosemary's Baby|year=2012|publisher=The Criterion Collection|ref={{sfnref|Remembering Rosemary's Baby|2012}}|medium=Documentary short}}
  • {{cite book|last=Sandford|first=Christopher|year=2009|title=Polanski: A Biography|publisher=Macmillan|location=New York City, New York|isbn= 978-0-23-061176-4}}
  • {{cite book |last=Simon |first=Ed |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gahEEAAAQBAJ |title=Pandemonium: A Visual History of Demonology |year=2022 |publisher=Abrams|location=New York City, New York |isbn=978-1-64700-389-0}}
  • {{cite book|last1=Wanamaker|first1=Marc|last2=Christaldi|first2=Michael|last3=Stephens|first3=E. J.|year=2016|title=Paramount Studios: 1940-2000|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|location=Charleston, South Carolina|isbn=978-1-467-13494-1}}